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Communications Workers Charge AT&T With Refusal to Bargain, Illegal Repudiation of Current Contract
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Communications Workers of America has filed an unfair labor practice charge against AT&T with the National Labor Relations Board over the company's refusal to bargain with CWA and its failure to abide by the contract covering some 35,000 CWA members.
CWA charged that AT&T has failed to abide by its agreement for a two-year review hearing to examine and enforce the Neutrality and Consent Election provision in the CWA-AT&T collective bargaining contract signed in May 1998. By its actions, the company is "effecting a wholesale repudiation of the agreement, constituting a unilateral change in the terms or conditions of employment during the contract term, and undermining the foundation of the parties' collective bargaining relationship," the union charged.
"AT&T is violating our contract and poisoning the labor relations climate throughout the company," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "This is a very short-sighted approach for a company moving into new communications and information areas where success depends greatly on the skills and expertise of its workforce."
"There was a time when AT&T acknowledged that its highly productive union workforce is a valued resource, and it sought to build a cooperative relationship with its unions," Bahr noted. "However, today's management seems bent on destroying any goodwill with its workforce and sowing the seeds of bad morale and labor turmoil."
The Neutrality and Consent Election provision in the contract sets forth guidelines for the organizing of employees in non-union acquisitions and subsidiaries such as AT&T Broadband (formerly TCI), AT&T Wireless, and AT&T Local Services. It provides that workers may make a choice about unionizing free of coercion, with AT&T management not being anti-union, and CWA not being anti-management, during organizing drives. Expedited elections are held after more than 50 percent of workers sign union authorization cards, with results certified by the American Arbitration Association.
On May 30, CWA called for the negotiated two-year review of the Neutrality and Consent Election provision to be conducted by a previously agreed-to neutral third party. This review procedure is a safety net that guarantees that if neutrality is not complied with, an arbitrator can call for simple "card check" to determine union representation rather than holding elections. Under card check, union recognition is granted as soon as a majority of workers in a bargaining unit have signed cards indicating they want representation.
The union is charging AT&T with "delaying, frustrating and undermining" the review process. CWA has agreed to several hearing dates proposed by the neutral third party. The union contacted the neutral third party on May 30; since then, AT&T has stonewalled, refusing to respond either to the neutral third party or requests from CWA that it move forward, according to the union.
In a letter to AT&T chief C. Michael Armstrong, CWA President Morton Bahr said AT&T's failure to even schedule dates for the review "destroys any trust I have in our relationship." Bahr reminded Armstrong that CWA has been working with AT&T corporate and Broadband management for several months on alternatives to the review and to settle some of the outstanding issues - particularly in Broadband - that seem to reflect a breakdown in the neutrality agreement.
"Obviously, our efforts to meet the concerns of Broadband management were not considered seriously," Bahr said. Bahr also reminded Armstrong that CWA indicated it would continue to pursue a settlement of outstanding grievances, but the company had to demonstrate good faith by agreeing to begin the review process as called for by the contract.
CWA charged that AT&T has failed to abide by its agreement for a two-year review hearing to examine and enforce the Neutrality and Consent Election provision in the CWA-AT&T collective bargaining contract signed in May 1998. By its actions, the company is "effecting a wholesale repudiation of the agreement, constituting a unilateral change in the terms or conditions of employment during the contract term, and undermining the foundation of the parties' collective bargaining relationship," the union charged.
"AT&T is violating our contract and poisoning the labor relations climate throughout the company," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "This is a very short-sighted approach for a company moving into new communications and information areas where success depends greatly on the skills and expertise of its workforce."
"There was a time when AT&T acknowledged that its highly productive union workforce is a valued resource, and it sought to build a cooperative relationship with its unions," Bahr noted. "However, today's management seems bent on destroying any goodwill with its workforce and sowing the seeds of bad morale and labor turmoil."
The Neutrality and Consent Election provision in the contract sets forth guidelines for the organizing of employees in non-union acquisitions and subsidiaries such as AT&T Broadband (formerly TCI), AT&T Wireless, and AT&T Local Services. It provides that workers may make a choice about unionizing free of coercion, with AT&T management not being anti-union, and CWA not being anti-management, during organizing drives. Expedited elections are held after more than 50 percent of workers sign union authorization cards, with results certified by the American Arbitration Association.
On May 30, CWA called for the negotiated two-year review of the Neutrality and Consent Election provision to be conducted by a previously agreed-to neutral third party. This review procedure is a safety net that guarantees that if neutrality is not complied with, an arbitrator can call for simple "card check" to determine union representation rather than holding elections. Under card check, union recognition is granted as soon as a majority of workers in a bargaining unit have signed cards indicating they want representation.
The union is charging AT&T with "delaying, frustrating and undermining" the review process. CWA has agreed to several hearing dates proposed by the neutral third party. The union contacted the neutral third party on May 30; since then, AT&T has stonewalled, refusing to respond either to the neutral third party or requests from CWA that it move forward, according to the union.
In a letter to AT&T chief C. Michael Armstrong, CWA President Morton Bahr said AT&T's failure to even schedule dates for the review "destroys any trust I have in our relationship." Bahr reminded Armstrong that CWA has been working with AT&T corporate and Broadband management for several months on alternatives to the review and to settle some of the outstanding issues - particularly in Broadband - that seem to reflect a breakdown in the neutrality agreement.
"Obviously, our efforts to meet the concerns of Broadband management were not considered seriously," Bahr said. Bahr also reminded Armstrong that CWA indicated it would continue to pursue a settlement of outstanding grievances, but the company had to demonstrate good faith by agreeing to begin the review process as called for by the contract.
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